Mamounas and Kavalieros

This matter concerned a property dispute between Mr Mamounas (the applicant husband) and Ms Kavalieros (the respondent wife) before Guest J in the Family Court of Australia. The parties, who married in May 2004 and separated in October 2004, had reached a compromise regarding the division of their assets and liabilities. The court's role was to ensure that the consent orders achieved by the parties were just and equitable, as required by the *Family Law Act 1975*.

The primary legal issue before the court was to approve and formalise the consent orders that resolved the financial and other relationships between the parties. These orders addressed the division of property, including a specific property and a company, as well as various debts and indemnities between the husband and wife. The court was required to be satisfied that the agreed terms were just and equitable, notwithstanding that they were made by consent.

Guest J found that the parties had achieved a sensible and dignified compromise through their own efforts, reflecting a rational and economic basis for moving forward. The settlement represented approximately 30 per cent of the net pool of assets (excluding superannuation) in favour of the husband. The court was satisfied that the terms of the consent orders were just, proper, and equitable in all the circumstances and sat seamlessly within the provisions of the *Family Law Act 1975*. The court made detailed orders concerning the payment of a sum of money by the wife to the husband, the refinancing and transfer of a property, the transfer of interests in a company, and mutual indemnities for various debts and liabilities. The court also ordered that extant applications be dismissed and that the parties' respective interests in other property be separate, with each party being solely liable for their own liabilities.